


A Piece of Cake

by TheFamilyWeChoose118



Series: Somebody to Know, Have, and Hold [6]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baking, Birthday Cake, Birthday Party, Bisexual!Eddie Diaz, Bisexual!Evan "Buck" Buckley, Buck has a child, Buck is a Good Dad, Buck's parents are absent parents, Dad!Buck, Dad!Buck melts my heart, Eddie is a disaster in the kitchen, Established Relationship, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Madney (mentioned a bit), Neglectful Parents (mentioned), Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Not necessarily abuse, buddie, seen in a trip down memory lane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:34:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFamilyWeChoose118/pseuds/TheFamilyWeChoose118
Summary: The firefam celebrates Ashton's first birthday.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Firehouse 118 Crew, Maddie Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Somebody to Know, Have, and Hold [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799794
Comments: 8
Kudos: 235
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	A Piece of Cake

Buck had never planned a birthday party before. To be fair, he had never had a lot of birthday parties, to begin with. Up until the age of eight, Buck remembered having birthdays where all his classmates were invited and his parents would buy some of the big blow-up obstacle courses and have Buck’s favorite food catered. All his mom and dad’s friends would be invited to come hang out while the kids played on the inflatables. By the time he had turned nine, Maddie had been old enough to take care of him and could drive him to school when his parents were on trips for work. The birthday parties hosted by his parents had ended and the work trips stated. Most birthdays after that consisted of a card full of money and, if they were lucky, a phone call from their parents wishing them a happy birthday.

Maddie had tried for years to make their own birthdays feel special. She would call into school for both of them and then they would spend the morning baking a birthday cake. After it cooled, they would work together to frost it. For dinner, they would order pizza from their favorite pizza place and sit in front of the tv and eat while they watched some of their favorite movies on VHS. Sitting anywhere except the dining table to eat was regarded like a sin in the Buckley household, especially if what was being eaten was smothered in a red sauce, and Buck loved it. He loved celebrating birthdays this way with Maddie. 

Once Maddie had left to go to college, Buck was left with a nanny for a few years that basically raised him until he was old enough to stay home on his own. Though Jess was a great nanny, she wasn’t Maddie. She didn’t call into school for him or let him eat pizza in the living room. She did make him a cake, but she wouldn’t let him frost it. While Buck loved Jess, because she would let him talk for hours on whatever new fixation he had, it just wasn’t the same as having Maddie around to keep him company. 

The day Buck found out about Ashton, he had decided that it would be different. He would be the best parent he could be so his daughter never felt the way he always did.

…

The week before Ashton’s party, Buck was visibly tense. After he had passed out the invitations to the firehouse, Buck had tried to refrain from voicing his worries about throwing a great party. Once Chimney had asked what the theme would be, Buck’s restraint had gone out the window. Suddenly he was talking about his and Maddie’s childhood and how birthdays weren’t the best but they could’ve been worse. By the end of the shift, Hen had offered up herself and Karen to take the kids to the park while Buck and Eddie set up for the party at Eddie’s house.

Buck opened the door, Ashton on one hip as Christopher was coming to the door behind him. “Hi, guys! Come on in,” Buck gestured.

Denny and Harry ran through the door toward Chris as Eddie pressed himself against the wall to get out of their way. “Woah. Hey, guys,” Eddie waved.

“No running,” Hen demanded of the two, stepping in the house. “Hi guys,” she smiled to Buck and Eddie and reached for Ashton. “Is this cutie ready to hang out with Aunt Hen and Aunt Karen for the morning?”

“She is,” Buck smiled.

“Is her daddy ready to let her go to the park without him?” Eddie mocked as he grabbed the diaper bag, coming up to where the three stood and placing his arm around Buck’s waist. 

Buck huffed. “I’ll be fine, Eddie.”

“What’s up with you two?” Hen snorted, passing Ashton to Karen and taking the diaper bag from Eddie’s hands.

“Buck is worried about Ash going to the park,” Eddie elaborated.

“I’m not worried about her going to the park with you guys,” Buck argued. “I just worry in general when she’s out of my sight.”

“I understand that feeling,” Karen offered. “Whenever Chimney used to babysit for our date nights, we used to worry the whole time. I wish I could say it goes away,” Karen laughed.

“Boys, are you ready to go?” Hen called down the hallway. 

Chris came down the hallway with a backpack strapped to his back and Harry and Denny following him. “We’re ready,” Chris called.

Hen opened the door for the kids, letting Harry and Denny go to the car. Eddie stopped Chris at the door, ruffling his hair. “You have fun at the park, and you listen to everything Karen and Hen tell you to do. Okay?”

“I will,” Chris smiled.

“Alright then. Have lots of fun,” Eddie led Chris out the door and helped him into the car. Karen carried Ashton to the car as Buck followed with the baby seat and booster seat they would need in hand. 

Buck secured the car seat and stepped away from the car, turning to take Ashton from Karen. “Alright, baby. You have lots of fun with your Aunt Karen and Aunt Hen,” Buck held Ashton up and away from him as she kicked around in the air, all smiles and laughter. 

“Now let’s get you strapped in,” Buck continued, making airplane noises as he maneuvered her into her car seat. He strapped her in as she continued giving one of those signature Buckley smiles. “Good to go,” he booped her nose. “Have lots of fun, baby girl,” Buck planted a kiss on Ashton’s forehead and stepped back to close the door, some worry working its way back onto his face.

“They will be fine, Buck,” Karen assured.

“I know,” he smiled. “And anyway, we have a cake to bake and a party to decorate for. Thank you for this. We owe you” 

“I’ll remember that for our next date night,” Karen smiled and got into the passenger seat as Buck shut her door for her. 

“Yeah, it’s no problem. We’ll be back at 4:00 for the party.” Hen assured out the window as she strapped into her seat. She started the car and left as Buck and Eddie went back inside.

“Okay,” Eddie claps. “Where do we start?” he looked to Buck.

“First, we bake the cake. Have you ever baked a cake?” 

“Nope but I’m still gonna try to help.” Eddie led Buck to the kitchen.

“You are not coming anywhere near that cake,” Buck laughed.

“So how am I going to help?” Eddie pouted.

“You,” Buck pecked his lips “are going to keep me company and maybe do some minimal help.”

“So I’m just here to look pretty?” Eddie feigned being offended.

“Exactly,” Buck smiled, pulling the ingredients, measuring tools, and a bowl out of the cabinets and drawers to bake the cake. Eddie hoisted himself up on the counter next to where Buck was setting everything up.

“Fine, as long as you talk me through some of what you’re doing so I can attempt this all again in a few months for Chris’ birthday.”

“First, we’re going to preheat the oven and grease the cake pans,” Buck instructed as he did each task. He moved next to Eddie. “Next, we’re going to start by putting the flour in the bowl,” he measured out the flour and handed it to Eddie. “Would you like to do the honors?” Buck slid the bowl over to Eddie. Eddie grabbed the measuring cup. “Be careful,” Buck instructed.

“Buck, how can someone possibly mess this up?” Eddie laughed. He dumped the flour cup upside down in the bowl, except it was a little too rough and flour dust went all over Buck’s face and Eddie’s shirt.

“Like that,” Buck coughed, bringing his shirt up to wipe the flour out of his eyes. “How did you manage this?” Buck looked around at the light coating of flour that surrounded them.

“There’s a reason I don’t normally do this,” Eddie started dusting flour off himself. 

“Okay, so for our next step,” Buck picked up the bowl “we’re going to pour the flour out of the bowl and back in the bag, and I’m going to measure this out because we lost half of the flour to the floor and your shirt. You’re not going to touch anything else.” 

“Good idea. I’ll just sit here and look pretty” Eddie agreed, laughing at the mess. 

“A task you're very good at,” Buck leaned over and pecked Eddie’s lips. Buck continued adding the ingredients and poured the mixture in the pan as Eddie watched him move around the kitchen. He placed the pan in the oven and set the timer. 

“What’s next?” Eddie asked, jumping down from the counter and looking at the flour mess.

“I’m going to go finish decorating the backyard. You might want to grab the vacuum,” Buck gestured to the mess in the kitchen.

“That’s fair,” Eddie nodded and grabbed the broom to condense the mess before he swept it up.

“So I take it I’ll be making Chris’ birthday cake or we’ll be ordering?” Buck laughed at Eddie’s expense.

“Jerk,” Eddie laughed. “Go hang your decorations,” he pointed out the door.

Buck carried out some tablecloths and table decorations, placing them on a few of the tables. As he was setting up the food table, the timer started going off on the stove. 

He pulled the cakes out of the oven, shutting it and the timer off. 

“So now we frost it?” Eddie asked, coming over to the oven to observe Buck’s handiwork.

“Once the pans cool, we’ll frost them. Otherwise, the frosting will melt.”

Eddie and Buck finished setting up all of the decorations. Once they were done, the cakes had cooled and they had gone back to the kitchen. 

“How are we going to decorate these?” Eddie asked as Buck removed the cakes from the pans. 

“We’re going to use this frosting,” Buck brought out containers of white, blue, pink, and purple icing he had made that morning. “I’ll decorate this cake,” Buck gestured to the main cake. “And you get this one,” Buck pointed to the smaller cake.

“What if I mess it up, though?”

“It’s a smash cake. More of it will probably end up on Ashton than in her,” Buck laughs. “And if it turns out bad, we can just figure out a way to fix it,” Buck shrugged.

“In that case, I bet mine will look better.”

Buck spluttered. “What? Eddie, you couldn’t pour flour in a bowl.”

“I guess we’ll just have to see then.” 

Eddie and Buck set to work frosting their respective cakes on different sides of the kitchen. Eddie was using the multiple colors of frosting to create a tye-dyed look and piping flowers onto his cake while Buck was making his cake look like a unicorn, each passing whatever frosting the other needed without looking at the other’s cake. When they were done, they turned to look at the other’s.

“How the hell?” Buck looked at Eddie’s cake. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“I’ve watched a video or two,” Eddie laughed. “Also, combat medics have to have very steady hands.” Eddie held up his hands.

“I’d like to hear more about these hands,” Buck took Eddie’s hands and pulled him in for a kiss. A knock at the door forced them apart. “Someone’s early,” Buck’s breath ghosted over Eddie’s lips. 

“I’ve got it.” Eddie pecked Buck one more time. 

“Your cake looks amazing,” Buck commented as Eddie walked to the door.

Buck made quick work of cleaning up the kitchen for the party that was starting in half an hour. He peeked around the corner to see Christopher walking down the hallway, his clothes covered in mulch. 

“Hi, Buck!” Chris called as he went by.

“You’re a mess, buddy” Buck looked him over.

“We had lots of fun!”

“That’s good,” Buck ruffled his hair. “Why don’t you go get changed for the party.” Chris nodded and ducked into his room to put on fresh clothes.

Buck walked to the front door, where Hen and Karen were talking to Eddie. “Hi, baby,” Buck took Ashton out of Hen’s arms. “Did you have fun today?” he bounced her up and down. 

Eddie took the car seats and diaper bag from Karen and set them in the living room. “You guys can come on in,” Eddie gestured for them to follow. “We’ve got some food we’re going to set out in a bit. Drinks are in the cooler on the patio.” Harry and Denny passed them to go meet Christopher in his room.

“Wow,” Hen whistled. “These cakes look beautiful. Who made these?”

“Surprisingly, we did,” Buck laughed. “After a flour mishap, we learned that Eddie’s hidden talent is frosting cakes.”

“Flour mishap?” Karen asked.

“You don’t want to know,” Buck shook his head. “We’ll probably be cleaning up flour for the next month.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” Eddie laughed.

Another knock came from the front door. “I’ve got it!” Eddie called out as Buck and Ashton took Hen and Karen to the patio to get drinks. 

Eddie joined them on the patio with two women following him and gestured for Buck to come over. “Abuela, I know you’ve met Buck. This is his daughter, Ashton. Buck, this is my tía Pepa.” 

“It’s great to meet you. I’m so glad you guys were free today,” Buck gave Pepa and Isabel a side hug, careful not to shove Ashton into anyone he was hugging. 

“We wouldn’t have missed it, Evan.” Isabel smiled. Her and Pepa started talking about how cute Ashton was and eventually ended up holding her so Buck and Eddie could start setting the food out. 

After that, a steady stream of guests started arriving. Bobby, Athena, and May were the next to come in. Bobby moved to the grill to cook the hamburgers and hotdogs for the party. Chimney and Carla showed up next, introducing Buck and Eddie to her husband. 

Once Maddie came in, Buck took her around to all the members of the 118, introducing her to everyone. At some point, Buck had wandered off to refill the cooler, and Maddie had wandered over to talk to Chimney.

After everyone had eaten and talked to their content, they all gathered around Ashton as Buck and Eddie brought out the two cakes. They set Ashton up in her high chair and set the cake in front of her. Everyone sang and watched as Ashton immediately smacked her hand into the middle of the cake. 

“Just like her dad,” Bobby laughed.

“All my hard work is gone,” Eddie bemoaned.

Buck passed out pieces of cake to all of the guests. He carried three plates over to the kids' table and looked between Denny, Harry, and Christopher. “Did you all finish your dinner?” Buck asked. “I don’t need to get in trouble again, and most of your parents scare me.” The kids laughed.

“Yes,” they chorussed.

“Do you promise?” Buck set the slices of cake down.

“Pinky promise,” they each offered their pinky.

“Okay,” Buck said sing-songy. He locked pinkies with each of them and passed out some forks. He went back to Ashton to take some pictures, the tray now stuck to Ashton’s head with lots of frosting acting as an adhesive. 

… 

Once the party was all done and Buck thanked everyone for coming, Buck took Ashton inside to give her a much-needed bath. 

“You weren’t kidding when you said more cake would get on her than in her,” Eddie laughed as Buck carried Ashton a safe distance away from himself. Buck opted to run water in the sink and give Ashton a bath in the kitchen as Eddie grabbed some towels, a bath toy, a washcloth and soap, and some fuzzy pajamas out of the diaper bag.

Buck made quick work of washing all the cake off Ashton and out of her hair. Eddie came over and leaned against the sink next to Buck, setting a rubber duck in the bathwater. “Are you still staying the night tonight?” 

Buck leaned over and kissed him. “Of course,” Buck smiled.

“I’ll go get Christopher a bath and set up for bed and then I’ll be back in to help clean up. Ashton’s playpen is set up in the living room.” Eddie kissed Buck on the shoulder blade, squeezing his arm, and left down the hallway. 

Buck watched Eddie as he walked down the hall toward Christopher’s room, only to be pulled out of his thoughts by a large splash of water that coated his shirt. “Seriously?” he laughed, turning back to Ashton. “You are a little stinker,” he cooed as he finished the bath, draining the water and wrapping her in a fluffy towel before he set to work getting her ready for bed.

…

Eddie walked out the doors to the patio to start cleaning as Buck laid Ashton down to sleep and then used the towel to dry himself off as much as he could. 

“She’s going to sleep well after the day she had,” Buck gestured to Ashton, already asleep in her crib.

“And the raccoons are going to eat well tonight,” Eddie laughed, looking around the back yard.

They moved in sync around the back yard, clearing the tables and putting everything away. Once the patio door was locked for the evening, Buck cut a piece of cake and grabbed a fork, offering a bite to Eddie.

“This cake is so good,” Eddie moaned. He grabbed a fork, feeding Buck a piece of cake. As he pulled the fork away, frosting went on Buck’s nose.

“Have you never fed anyone in your life?” Buck laughed, eyeing the glob of frosting now sitting on his nose.

“Maybe I just wanted to do this,” Eddie raised himself on the balls of his feet as he licked the frosting off Buck’s nose. 

Buck’s eyes went wide. “Eddie, so help me god, there are children in this house,” he whisper-yelled.

Eddie tilted his head, whispering in Buck’s ear. “Then I guess we’ll just have to be extra quiet?” Eddie pulled back, a stupid grin on his face. Buck wanted to kiss off him.

Buck rolled his eyes as he pulled Eddie to the bedroom and quietly latched the door, the piece of cake left forgotten on the counter.


End file.
